DII National Championship and HSBBWEB

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"...I cannot remember the hsbbweb name of the parent no idea Someone please suppliment my memory..."

You just knew this was coming didn't you CD?



If I didn't stuff these in my mouth by the handful I would have never remembered where I filed this photo!



Seriously...thanks for the post and let's hope the parents of those players competing keep us posted. Parents?

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Woodrow - I knew that word (suppliment) would not escape you

Playoffs start today - please keep us updated everyone.

Although I am Backstop-17 and not 32, the game times in the South regional have been delayed a bit by yesterday's rain. You can keep up with all the action via this link:

DII South Regional - Tampa

Thanks for posting CD.

So far after 7, that Grabe kid is 3 for 3, 2 runs, a walk.

Unstoppable.

In a tremendous thirteen inning game, Stillman beats #1 Tampa 6 to 5. Floridafans son Eric did everything he could as he had four hits and two walks. Backstop 17's son Adam, drew a crucial HBP, as a pinch hitter late in the game.

Thanks guys! It was a heartbreaker! Hope we can pull it out of the hat! Eric said he would have rather gone 0-5 and won the game. Stillman did play well, without error.

floridafan,

Maybe Eric influenced Jordan as he also went 4 for 4 with a SB and RBI in Delta States late game 2-0 victory over Northern Alabama. I imagine everything will be running behind again since the fourth game had to be delayed until today.

We were three and done at Conference tournament. Started well but not play good at the end.

Best of luck to those still playing!

Congrats ThreeBagger! Way to get the win!

Mt Olive link

Lander just beat #1 seed Mt Olive 7-5 . Kid hit 3 run homer in the 9th with 2 outs.
Go Bearcats !!

Mt Olive starting pitcher went 8 2/3 innings and Threw 178 pitches, got this off tournment web site. Darn crazy coach !!!!

The Mount Olive and Lander game was outstanding. Coach May's son and Coach Merc's son both had great games and Coach May's son threw Coach Merc's son out trying to steal. Lander scores a big upset.

Tampa, unfortunately saw their season come to an end and unfortunately, the great college career of Eric Grabe also came to an end. I know how painful it is when that final game has been played. I am hoping that he hears his named called in the draft in a few weeks and continues what has been a very fine baseball career. He has earned his shot at the next level.

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
Tampa, unfortunately saw their season come to an end and unfortunately, the great college career of Eric Grabe also came to an end. I know how painful it is when that final game has been played. I am hoping that he hears his named called in the draft in a few weeks and continues what has been a very fine baseball career. He has earned his shot at the next level.

It has really been great to get to know Floridafan and having his son on the Tampa team. I will miss seeing Jonathon on a regular basis, we have become great friends that I hope carries on for years.

Eric is a great player and seeing him hit a home run in his final UT game was awesome, even though the rest of the team lost their bats this weekend, he persevered.

But that is baseball and like someone said on here recently, that is why we like watching it - because you never know what can happen on any given day.

Good luck to Lander and Coach May's son!

Well Delta State got themselves in a bind by losing a tough 6-5 game to Alabama at Huntsville. Delta had three hits and a walk in the eighth but a base running mistake led to no runs. Rallied in the ninth for two and had runner on second when the game ended, so they did show some spunk at the end. Delta was a little sloppy in a few facets of the game and pitched in trouble all night, but today's a new day. Face defending National Champion West Florida in an elimination game at 3:15 central time. We've been in this position before and hope we can rally one more time. Need to win four straight games to survive Regional play.

Great 2 games. The boys were in shock after the Lander loss and had to play immediately after. They couldn't pull it together and Catawba put an end to a pretty special season.

Jeff May played a great game behind the plate and got a huge hit in the 9th inning. The winning HR hit the lights in right center field.

At the beginning of the season no one would have thought we would be here. You win with pitching and defense and this team was an offensive machine most of the year with decent pitching. This weekend we still had double digit hits but couldn't put up runs.

It was a great ride and I have a whole new respect for D2 baseball in the SE.

My son Mike tweeted last night that he enjoyed playing the game for the first time since summers in HS and it was the best group of guys he's ever played with. Great staff,great team chemistry.

Good luck to all of those who are still in it. Summer season is here for me!

Wow! Way to pull out the win Jeff! I wish ALL the best to Lander, Kermitt & Chris are great coaches on the rise!

I can hardly believe Eric's college run is over. It was a rough and unexpected way to go out. Great memories and a wonderful time in Tampa. We were at 90% plus of the games over the past two years. We would not have had that opportunity at any other program.

Anyway, this ride has come to an end and I can honestly say we throughly enjoyed it. We can continue to dream for a few more weeks, and enjoy some days on the water fishing as my son plans the next stage of his life.

Post season he hit .777 and his last at bat was a HR, we will consider that a Blessing regardless of what comes next.

Good luck to everyone out there, and Enjoy the Ride! It does come to an end one day when you least expect it.

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Thank you all for these great reports!



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floridafan,

I watched those last two Tampa games via computer and Eric was a hitting machine! Everytime Tampa rallied or got something started, he was in the middle of it. He can feel great that he went out contributing to his team til the very end.

This is a great topic and good for D2 baseball. Except for the pitch count for the pitcher.

I'd prefer son to considering playing on a D2 team that goes to their championships often rather than a D1 that never seems to be going anywhere. And I am sure he would rather be able to play often and not sit the bench waiting for his 3rd or 4th year to get his chance.

There are no winners or losers in baseball except in game outcomes.

Congratulations to all!

Well, Delta State survives to fight another day in the South Regional as they eliminate defending National Champ West Florida, 11-3. We must win four more games to win the tournament. I'm happy to say that son Jordan is having a good tourney as he had three more hits and is now nine for fourteen in three games.

I think its been at least 3 months since I have posted on the site. I decided to take a break from the computer for awhile for many reasons. There is no need to go into all of that but I want to apologize to all of my good friends here for not stopping by and saying hello for so long. I have had a very busy baseball year so far. Been to a ton of games and have seen a bunch of very good players. And I have enjoyed so much getting the chance to see some of the posters sons play.

Coach Merc thanks for the kind words. I was so impressed with your son. I was shocked at how big and strong he has become since going to college. He is a seriously good player. We were very fortunate to beat Mount Olive. They were an outstanding team. My son is a little worn down right now. Catching 50 plus games will kind of do that to you I guess. After todays game we were eliminated by a very good Francis Marion team. I got the chance to give him a hug and tell him to keep his head up. Soaked in sweat and covered in dirt I could tell he was hurting big time.

I looked around at the parents of the Sr's I will probably never see again. The Sr players who had just played the last game they will ever play were coming towards their Dads and Moms. The tears started and it was tough to see. Kids who have played the game since they were 5 or 6 years old coming to the realization that the game they love so much is now a memory only. And me standing there realizing that soon enough that will be me and my wife standing there and someone will see us waiting for our son next year as he leaves a dug out.

I am very proud of Jeff and the way he battled this season. From a serious bone bruise in his forearm, bruised ribs, pulled groin and too many bruises on his arms and thighs to count from blocking and attempting to block pitches. Oh I would have loved for him to hit much better over the course of the season. But so proud of the way he fought and scratched and clawed to help his team in anyway he could to find a way to win.

He played in a Regional while at his D1 school. Played in ACC games and got a World Series ring for his team reaching the CWS. But no words can describe how much he loved this team this season and his experience at his new school. The level of the competition as Coach Merc put it gives you a perspective that only those who witness it can understand.

I thought about Eric Grabe today and FF when I saw those Sr's walk out of that dug out. As I looked in my son's eyes and knew he gave everything he had there were no words other than "I love you, you played hard." I am sure that Eric Grabe heard pretty much the same thing after his last college game. As my son's room mate AJ Nunziato walked by I thought of his Dad Tony who could not be there. He is a policeman in NY and made the trip to the conf tourney last week and simply couldn't swing it this week to come. I gave him a big hug and told him thank you. Thanks for being such a good friend to my son and a great team mate. And I thought about his Dad who couldn't be there for his son's last college game. It was a very emotional moment. I could go on and on but I will stop. I think you get the picture.

Sorry for the long post.

This was a pretty cool thread with a lot of good information 10 minutes ago

Coach May just made this a great thread that should be required reading for anyone contemplating colleges or simply trying to live out the passion of the game now.

Coach, I know you and I have spoken during those few months you've been away from this site, but I don't think I expressed it to you in conversation. Your presence here brings about an amazing sense of admiration and relief in me. It's almost like hearing my father speak after a long absence- it's soothing, passionate, and makes sense.

Thanks, like always, for sharing.

Up here in the east region Southern New Hampshire awaits the winner of Lemoyne v. Franklin Pierce and the chance to play for a trip to Cary. GO PENMEN!!!

Coach May,

We have missed you!

Julie

Coach May, it was great watching all these boys compete this weekend. I made the 9 hour drive home yesterday after meeting with Mike and cleaning some of his stuff out of his locker. He has another year left but he said this team was special. We looked at him as if he was damaged goods coming from High Point where they did nothing but critisize the way he played. High Point had better records with him then without so his head is high.

saying goodby to the seniors who welcomed him in January with open arms and treated him as just another one of the guys. It was such a close team that coach didn't think would make it to where they did since we had lost some arms to injuries. For the last 2 months they had been an offensive machine.

I had not seen Jeff or AJ play since high school. They are both tremendous players and ground out the wind and took all the wind out of the Mount Olive sails. AJ's dad is a friend of mine and I was texting with him all week. I offered a ride for him to come down but vacation time was limited. We were congratulating each other on the boys making some of the post season teams together, both playing SS and having solid years.

I have seen a lot of baseball this year, college in the NE and college in the SE. These D2 conferences give these players an opportunity to compete at the highest level for programs that expect to win and compete for championships every year. It was an un -describable feeling. It was business as usual for the coaching staff. It was the best move for Mike that we could have made. I have been encouraging many players to now look at these 3 conferences for an opportunity to play at a very high level as compared to some of what I've seen elsewhere.

Thank You Mike, Jeff, AJ, Nick Gaeta, Jake Rogers and many many of the others for a very very enjoyable season of baseball with passion. Can't wait for next spring!!!

One mistake some people make is they do not expose themselves to college baseball outside of D1. There is an assumption in the back of people's mind that the D1 player must be twice as good as the DII player and three times as good as the DIII player. For anybody that has experienced it, that couldn't be further from the truth and if you don't believe me - see Coach May's and Coach Merc's post above whose sons were both former D1 players and thus, they obviously know what they are talking about. Their same observations can be translated to the DIII level as well. The fact is these kids are competing at college baseball and having the times of their lives. Lots and lots to be said for that.

I'd like to echo the wonderful words of Coach May and Coach Merc. I've been here at Mount Olive since Thursday watching some great baseball. There's truly not a dime's worth of difference between the six teams that earned their way here. My son's team has to win two games today to make it to the D2 CWS in Cary. What a thrill that would be, especially since he's a senior. His team has already survived a pair of elimination games, ones that could have been the last time he would wear a uniform. Still not sure how I'm going to react once it all comes to an end, but what a crazy ride the last four years have been. Whichever team finds a way to win this regional will really have accomplished something. This level of D2 is extremely strong, as evidenced by Francis Marion's win over South Carolina earlier in the season.

In the South Regional Delta State survived a grueling game with Nova Southeastern by coming from behind twice and winning 8-5. We will now play Alabama at Huntsville immediately after a forty minute break.. Such is the life of fighting back up the losers bracket. But I can't complain as we are still alive and confident. Pitching getting a little thin. This game my son didn't contribute offensively as he took a collar but his teammates picked him up. Our third baseman who had been in a lengthy slump has come up big in the last two games.

Good luck 3bagger and to the 2 teams left in the SE Regional, Catawba and Francis Marion..The NE Regional is in the final between LaMoyne and S New Hampshire

Congratulations to Southern NH University for advancing to the World Series by beating LeMoyne 4-3 today in NH.

Delta State needed a couple of miracles and we got them! Down in the bottom of the ninth to Alabama at Huntsville we tied the game and almost won but had a runner thrown out at the plate on an overly aggressive try at winning the game. Then in the tenth Alabama at Huntsville scored two runs to seemingly finish the Statesmen. But someone forgot to tell our guys that they were finished. Delta State put on a dramatic rally with backup infielder Justin Badon, in his first at bat of the series, getting a base hit to drive in the tieing and winning runs in walkoff fashion. I have no idea who can pitch tomorrow but I guess coach will come up with someone. We must beat Stillman twice to advance to the World Series but after the two games today I believe anything is possible! Go Fighting Okra!!!!

Congratulations ThreeBagger, your guy and your team have had an awesome ride! I am shocked that you must beat Stillman twice to advance!

Baseball is an amazing game! Best played one pitch at a time!

Thank you floridafan, it was a great day for the team.

I think one of the strengths of our team is that we have so much bench strength and flexibility available where our Coach was able to make numerous changes during the game as the situation required. That's what a team is about.

Catawba College won the Southeast Regional with two wins Sunday, defeating Tusculum 6-1 and then Francis Marion 8-4 in the championship game. After falling into the losers' bracket the first day, Catawba pulled off four straight wins -- the first three on complete games -- over the 1, 3, 2 and 4 seeds to advance to the first D2 CWS in school history in the team's fifth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. Incredible effort by the players to battle their way back in a very strong regional.

Congratulations to all the players and their parents who have participated in
the recent Division 2 Regional playoffs. The U of California/San Diego will represent the Western Regional having defeated my adopted Sonoma State U.

When I watch the SSU games, I often evaluate the players and their reason for playing. Several conclusions: competition, the joy of playing, respect for their teammates and the academic education for their future careers.

In 1977, I was the Head coach for this team beginning their 1st season in the new conference.

Later John Goelz became the Coach and has won over 800 games and several trips to the World Series.

The objective to this discussion is to applaud all the "web posters" on their son's success on a Division 2 team. "The name of the game is to play".

Bob Williams
"founder" of the Area Code Games and Goodwill Series [1983-2012]

Delta State pulls another ninth inning three run rally to beat unbeaten Stillman and force the final game! This will be Delta State's seventh game of the tourney as they fought up from the losers bracket. Gutsy pitching performance on two days rest and closer gets second save along with a win in the last three games. Will either start a relief pitcher or a freshman who has made one start. So proud of Jordan, put the team on his back offensively, hitting triple to lead off game , following with a double and two singles, the last of which was a beautiful drag bunt up first baseline to start ninth, A steal of second and a sac put him in position to score on the game winning basehit by our DH Kinglsey. Two more hits gave us insurance and final 5-2 score!

Well Delta State won its fourth game (10-7 over Stillman) in two days and sixth of the Regional tournament to clinch the final Regional spot to the DII College World Series in Cary North Carolina!

It has been an incredible run but my son is surrounded by teammates who would not quit, so nerve wracking as it has been it has been worth every minute! The only downer was that because we had the only eight team regional we had to overuse our pitching staff playing seven games since Thursday.

I'll next be reporting from Cary NC if I can somehow get off work.